another attack of narcism

...another grey and misty morning, but much drier than yesterday and still pleasantly warm - almost muggy, in fact. This afternoon, we even saw a little period of pale blue sky. It didn't seem worthwhile travelling far, so we nipped across to Ballard Down for a lovely squelch through sodden grass and along muddy paths - perfect conditions for small flies :)

It was a fruitful walk that yielded a couple of different jewelled beetles, several ichneumon wasps, a hawthorn shieldbug, and a dock bug, but my favourite was this tiny (5mm) black scavenger fly, Sepsis punctum. I was confused by what looked like yellow stripes when I saw him through the macro lens, however, once I saw the image full-size on my laptop, I understood that it was L and me reflected on its shiny back. As there was nothing remotely yellow behind us, I can only assume that some degree of refraction has taken place. This group of true flies are not exactly charming in nature but they do perform a vital role in the disposal of animal waste products and what they lack behaviourally they make up for visually - not that you can see this with the naked eye though...